You go on this road trip 1-6 -- it's not good. We've got these guys breathing down our necks and we're not in first place either. We've got to come back and play better, though. ...

[A]t this point you panic. You've got to panic at this point. But you're not going to do anything panicking but playing better. Of course you're freaked out. ... [T]he past three days, [the Rays] look like they have no pressure on themselves. That makes a huge difference.

So if Boston can do work on TB at home and TOR/BAL can each steal a game from them, then they can go 6-1 vs. MFY and still be out, as long as the sox dummy Baltimore and get their winning swagger back this week, at home vs. the Jays.

As was said by 9c, next weekend vs. TB is huge.

Of course, the ultimate dream is that the Yankees totally stagger down the stretch and both Boston and TB get in, leaving MFY in front of their TV sets on September 30th.